"You're awake! What happened?" Byrd's worried face filled Kenneth's vision as he blinked his eyes open in-game and took a deep breath. He sat up, flinching back from her and hugging his knees to his chest. It took a couple of deep breaths before he mustered up an answer for her.

"I'm fine, just a little episode," he half-lied as he stared at the ground. His fingers twisted the laced of his character's boots, pulling out the pre-tied bows they came with. The bow regenerated properly tied. He glanced up, looking at her furrowed brow. She was chewing heavily on her lower lip, rubbing at her chin.

"That doesn't seem 'fine' to me," she said after a moment. Shifting closer, she gave him a critical once over. Kenneth stiffened and looked back down at the ground. A cough welled up in his chest outside the game and he tried to hide it in his sleeve.

"It's just some light medical stuff," he admitted after a moment, hoping that would get her to relax. "Nothing major," he coughed and hunched his shoulders forward.

Her hand rested on his shoulder. Kenneth flinched and jerked back. His head shot up as he shimmied away from her hand and scooted back. His own hands wrapped around his shoulders protectively as he inhaled and exhaled deeply.

Byrd's face contorted in concern. She didn't come any closer, though, holding her hand in mid-air a moment. Then she dropped it in her lap and leaned in without getting close. "Hey, I didn't mean to pry...or hurt you. Are you okay?" Her brown eyes squinted, creasing her forehead.

Heart pounding, Kenneth twisted his fingers in the hair on the nape of his neck. He kept his head down, avoiding her eyes directly. He mustered up a bit of courage and nodded, even knowing it was a lie. His stomach sank, though, realizing she wouldn't buy it. She sees right through this...and I am, you know...acting weird. He blew out a quiet sigh, dipping his head lower a moment. Then he lifted it and swallowed down the fear roiling in his stomach.

"I'd rather no touch, that's all," he said. "I'm kinda sick and not feeling well. I'm fine to play the game but I might have to leave every now and then," he offered. Half-truths. They'd worked on his mom to keep her out of his business. He hoped they'd work on Byrd so they could move forward. He rubbed his neck, wanting to get up and move.

Her head tilted to one side, then she stood up. "Alright. You don't have to tell me everything. No-touch I can do. Sorry if I freaked you out earlier," she said, oddly serious. Her tone barely rose above a monotone. She started to stick out her hand to help him up, then returned it hesitantly to her pocket. "Sorry," she whispered.

Rising slowly, Kenneth got to his feet. He tested his balance a moment, half expected to pass out again. Nothing happened, and he stayed standing. His shoulders slumped a little as he hooked his thumbs in his waistband again. "It's okay. I probably should've made mention of that earlier."

She nodded. He frowned and looked away some, lips compressing. Good job, you probably just freaked out the only person in this game who cares. Oh well, we do better on our own anyway. He stared down at his boots, wondering where to go.

Byrd turned, shading her eyes. "So, quest? If you're still up for it?" she glanced back, a bit of light returning to her face. She quirked a questioning smile, raising an eyebrow.

Kenneth looked up and blinked. He stood there, then nodded quickly. "Yeah, quest. You still wanna go on one, with me, I mean?"

She shrugged and turned. "Yeah? Why wouldn't I?"

He lifted his hands and then stuffed them in his pants pockets. "Dunno. Nevermind weird thought. Yeah, let's go. This way," he said, remembering he'd been leading her. He pointed off down the road and started to walk, kicking up CGI rocks.

She chuckled softly behind him and fell back in step with his gait, despite her considerably shorter legs. "I get a lot of those. No worries." Her gait bounced lightly and he glanced over as she looked up. He hid an envious smile at the carefree expression in her eyes. Then her gaze skipped over to him and he raised his eyebrows in question.

"So, you like tattoos?" she asked, jerking a thumb at the large sunflower now openly displayed on his arm.

Kenneth glanced down at it with a sad smile, and he nodded. "Yeah, I do. I haven't gotten a new one in a while, but my dad took me to get this one. It was our little thing before he got sick." He held up his arm so she could see. "I love yellow," he admitted sheepishly.

"Neat, that looks so nice and clean too," she whispered in awe. Then she shook her head and looked away. "I could never. I thought about it once, but--" she shuddered briefly, "--I can't do needles. I'd flip out."

Kenneth stuck his hand back in his pocket and furrowed his brow in question with a bemused smile. "Who's living in the 21st century now? You realize that's a really old school tattoo method, right? Laser is painless." He pulled the collar of his shirt back to show off the three gamer hearts tattooed on his collar bone--thank goodness the game transposed all body markings excepting scars. "That's what I did for this one since it's on the bone. It is a little more expensive, but there's also semi's with the draw on pens."

She cocked her head, hair falling off one shoulder as she kicked a rock far ahead of them. It regenerated behind them as they kept walking. "Hm, I hadn't thought of that. Interesting...I dunno, though."

Kenneth waved it off and returned his eyes forward. He thought he saw something and stopped, squinting. "You don't have to, but if you need help, I know a good bit..." he murmured absently. He threw out a hand so she'd stop, though, jerking it back before she ran into him. "I think there's a caravan of sorts coming our way," he noted. "See that dot there?"

Byrd shaded her hand. "I see it," she agreed. "You think it's a caravan?"

"What else would it be?" Kenneth asked. "Well, okay, there's a couple of other things. But a guy can hope, right?"

"This girl can too," Byrd murmured. She lowered her hand and took a couple of steps closer to the road, waving her hands. The dor quickly grew into a truck holding several grafters and full-bloods. None of them had game tags, though. Kenneth moved up beside Byrd. NPC Caravan. Must be a transport, he thought. Transports were rarer now that vehicles were free for use outside quests, but here one was. Perfect, just what we need to get into town, he thought. He silently thanked whatever obscure employee had kept them in the game.

"Perfect. They'll get us to town," he said as the truck began to slow at seeing her. The older man, the driver, poked his head out of the front of the truck.

"You need something?"

Nodding, Byrd walked up to him. "Could we hitch a ride to the next settlement?"

He didn't answer. For a moment he returned to the cab, then stuck his head out again. "You need something?"

Stepping up, Kenneth nodded. "Yes."

A grin spread on the grizzled grafter's face. He jerked a leathery thumb at the back of the truck. "Hop in. Going to the next settlement?"

"Yes," Kenneth answered again. "Thank you." He let Byrd go ahead of him as they climbed into the bed of the truck beside the other NPC's crammed in the back. Kenneth found the least claustrophobic position he could and huddled up, inhaling deeply.

Byrd shot him a questioning look and a thumbs up. Kenneth returned with a shaky thumbs up and leaned back. The truck lurched and pulled forward again. Closing his eyes, Kenneth exhaled slowly and let himself rest for a couple of minutes as they made their way to the settlement.

-----

The truck lurched to a stop, jostling Kenneth out of his light sleep. His head jerked up off his chest as he sat up mildly, stretching one arm out in front of the other, yawning. He sat up and squirmed free of the little cubby he'd slid into during the ride. Across the way, Byrd was extracting herself from the floor, looking around.

Kenneth stood up and shaded his eyes. We made it already? That didn't take long. I must have dozed off, he thought, rubbing at his face. While the avatars didn't feel exhaustion, he could feel it outside the game. His eyelids were weighed down by some unknown force. After all, sleep in-game didn't usually yield much rest--he knew due to the number of times he fell asleep with the headset on and running.

"Did you fall asleep?" Byrd laughed as she jumped down from the bed of the truck.

Yawning again, Kenneth nodded and stepped down carefully. He looked back up at the NPC's not even registering their presence. Seemed some old glitches still remained. He turned away and yawned into his hand. "Yeah," he mumbled. "Guess I was sleepy."

Byrd ambled over. She nodded, her forehead creasing ever so slightly as she looked him over. He didn't know what she was expecting to see. Avatars might look like their real-life bodies, but they didn't show signs of sickness or exhaustion. They weren't real people, only the players behind them were. In most cases at least.

"You know you can always log out for a nap," she said, her eyes skipping around. He had a feeling she was looking over her own personal screen. He let his eyes wander over his own to see the time. He'd eaten when they'd woken him up from the last episode, and of course, left the cryptic reminder he was dying. His lips compressed. They still held out hope he would change his mind. Hope was an odd emotion on a robot. He shook his head to himself.

I'm not changing my mind. No one else on this planet would miss me. Easier to just go naturally I suppose. He sighed and finally checked the time. 8 pm. Not too late, but he had been through two major episodes, and he'd been up since the early hours of the morning playing. Sure, it was his addiction. What more do I have, though? It's my one place of peace.

"I mean, I suppose it's a little early unless of course, you've been on a while. But, if you're sick, you should rest more..." Byrd rambled softly in the background, a finger pressed to her lips. She wasn't even looking at him but musing aloud.

Looking over at her as he caught the tail end of that, Kenneth nodded meekly. She was right, even if she didn't know the extent. Half-truths were all he could afford for the moment, though. If she knew...He expected his stomach to flip at the thought, but as he stared at her standing there rubbing at her lips and talking, he found himself barely resisting the urge to blurt everything out. He tightened his jaw, refusing to open his mouth, though. She's a stranger. We barely know one another. Giving her a reason to worry about me isn't fair.

Her eyes drifted back to him and she settled both hands on her hips. "Hey, so are you staying or logging off? I should probably log off soon for dinner, anyway," an embarrassed smile touched her lips. "Please don't ask, I know it's late."

Kenneth blinked. He shook his head a moment, then nodded. "Um, yeah, I'll log off." He hesitated, looking past her at the town. "Continue tomorrow?" he finally asked, his stomach roiling nervously.

She grinned and nodded. "Tomorrow. Rest well and feel better. I'll be expecting you here," she said and opened her arms for a hug. Then she stopped short and pulled back flushing red. "Sorry, I promise I'll remember eventually."

Kenneth waved it off and rubbed at the back of his neck, hunching his head forward. "It's fine, sorry for the bother."

"Meh, it's fine," she said with a dismissive wave. Then she shooed him away with her hands. "Go, sleep. You have healing to do, I expect you in good health for our next quest."

Heart sinking to his stomach, Kenneth nodded nervously. He reached up and logged out before the conversation pushed anymore awkwardly into territory he didn't want to touch. The screen went grey and he reached up, sliding the headset off. He let out a breath. Settling the headset down on the edge of the bed, he rubbed his own cold pale face and rested his hands over his nose. He closed his eyes, seeing her smile flash before them. Again, he opened his eyes and shifted onto his side, squirming uncomfortably. 'Go, sleep. You have healing to do. I expect you in good health for our next quest.'

She had no idea. There was no getting better in a day. This was a condition that he'd live with for the rest of his quickly fleeting life if he didn't find a way to pay for that transplant. His hand traveled to his chest as he inhaled deeply, gathering what little oxygen his lungs still could. The doctors said a month, but they never really knew when. It could be a month, it could be a week. His eyelids drooped and he shivered. It could be tonight.

She's expecting me tomorrow. She wants me there...does she really care that much?

Wrapping his arms around himself, he thought of the way she smiled at him. Sure, they'd just met earlier that day. Barely even knew each other. In fact, he didn't even know her favorite color, all she'd done was ask him questions and ramble. Still, he couldn't let her down. Could she care? He swallowed with the reminder of the lonely pit coiled up inside his stomach. No one here was human. He hadn't interacted beyond quests with anyone in the game. No one dared invest their time in another random player, except her.

Kenneth looked over the call button beside his bed. Two options: Call the robots and his mother so he could get that transplant, or he could lay here wasting away. He reached over. 'You have healing to do,' her soft voice rang in the back of his mind. His finger hesitated, then he closed his eyes and pressed the button.